Amnesty warns over Mozambique venture

Mozambique’s national human rights commission has condemned the excessive use of force by police to disperse a demonstration (Reuters)

A SCOTTISH company run by a grandson of Winston Churchill has been criticised
by human rights campaigners after striking a £133m energy deal with
Mozambique and Namibia.

Glasgow firm Aggreko, led by Rupert Soames, the brother of Conservative MP
Nicholas Soames, has secured an agreement to supply power to the two
countries in a joint venture with a South African investment company.
Amnesty International said that companies should not cash in on regimes whose
human rights records it considers to be questionable.

Two weeks ago Mozambique’s national human rights commission condemned the
excessive use of force by police to disperse a demonstration.

In Namibia human rights problems have included excessive force by police,
prison overcrowding and poor conditions in detention centres, arbitrary
arrests, prolonged pre-trial detention, harassment and political
intimidation of opposition members, and corruption.

Last week Aggreko, which supplies temporary power, announced that it had
struck a deal to